MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said during his weekly briefing Thursday that the city's hotel industry is steadily improving, as the city's overall occupancy is at roughly 52 percent.

That number is up 2.5 percent since last year, a figure Strange said is not really a significant amount. He also said downtown hotels have an occupancy rate of more than 65 percent, while the EastChase area has an occupancy rate of 61 percent, which is up 23 percent since last year.

Strange said other areas off interstate exits are right at 50 percent, which he said brings the overall average down.

The mayor said the city has been approached by other hotels who have shown interest in developing properties in the area. He said they would listen to any proposals, but the city does not want to agree to anything that might have a negative economic impact on existing hotels in the area.

He also said the city is currently working on bringing 115 respective groups to stay in hotels that would represent 75,000 room-nights for the city. Bookings and other meetings in the hotels are up 32 percent from last year.

A room-night is a statistical unit of occupancy that represents one hotel room occupied for one night.